The debate on whether to use long copy as opposed to short copy has been ongoing for a few years now, and still there isn’t a concrete answer. There will be no right answer ever because it ultimately depends on your product, target market and the role of each page of your site. There isn’t a “one size fits all” rule about anything within the realm of conversion optimization, and that definitely applies to long copy as well. The more important question to consider is how do I decide, based on my target market and product, when to use long …

One of the terrors of written words is that once words are published, you can’t hide. Published words can haunt you FOREVER.

Even if you pull your copy, someone will have read your words and doubtlessly have made decisions in relation to what he or she read. This person may have decided that your website, had interesting information, continued to read and perhaps, recommended your product or service to a friend. However, the reader may have come to the conclusion that you are a complete idiot and that your website is doomed to a long lasting lack of readership, …

We live in a world that offers a tremendous amount of information. The online world is even more intense, as readers often have the attention span of a gnat. The first, and sometimes only, chance that you have to catch a reader on your first screen is through your headline. A headline’s job is to literally make a reader stop…and then read more.

1. Pleasing or Painful Headlines

A headline should include a benefit that will appeal to your readers, whether that benefit is a positive or a negative. Positive headlines might be geared around: